Baaaaad Dog...!
As I've mentioned, D. Daphne Dog has been very much a blessing throughout the last months. Always happy and wagging her tail, always active and inquisative about things; it's just nice to have her around. And for a dog that was not really house trained when she was given her reprieve to start living inside....she's done remarkably well. Only one, maybe two "pee pee" incidents and one "poop".
She's easily trainable and has learned to let me know when she needs to go out to "potty" [a generic term for either of the two functions mentioned above]. She whines. Of course she whines for a lot of other reasons too, so I have had to learn the "potty" whine. I learned it after the second and final "pee pee" episode I think.
Anyway you get the drift, Daphne has come a long way baby. But she does have her moments when, I believe, the trauma of her past life causes her to act out. Last night she acted out on our luxurious quilted bedspread, ripping a hole smack dab in the middle and pulling the stuffing out. I say luxurious, perhaps it was more like a pretty old, somewhat ratty bedspread. But it is now where Daphne sleeps, me too, so to her I'm sure it seemed luxurious. Why she did this is open for discussion but I think that the pain and trauma of being forced to stay outdoors during her childhood years sometimes is too much for her to bear. Also the bedspread was on the floor as I washed the sheets, so it presented a target of opportunity too great not to unleash her inner aggressions on.
But no mind, a bedspread is just stuff, a dog is a dog, dogs are more important than stuff. But she had to be reprimanded and so I used the technique used by some women I've known....a good dose of sour looks and quilt. Guilt, at least on me, works better than any other form of punishment. Even when I've done nothing wrong, some women have that certain knack of imparting the suggestion of guilt that makes me wonder. Though I may be perfectly innocent "now", they presume that I may have done this wrong in the past or perhaps might do it in the future, so why not be made to feel guilty about it "now".
So this was Daphne's punishment. One she's seen before. She's a master of deflection however. I usually start out with {low tone} "Daphne, did you do this"? At which time she starts glancing around looking for any other dogs I might be talking to. Since the Big Gold Dog is no longer here to deflect suspicion onto, Daphne now gets nowhere with this technique. Next I bring her over and have her sit down right in front of the evidence and, knowing that she's almost human I speak to her like a child, "Daphne, why oh why did you do this to our "good" bedspread". I can also read her mind. She's thinking, "Daphne, why oh why did you get caught".
After five or so minutes of constant low tone guilt imparting to Daphne, she'd had enough and decided to just lie down sad eyed and take it. I knew this was sufficient so I asked, "Daphne, do you have to go potty". At which time she bounded to the back door, did her business and when she came in I gave her a treat and said, "Good Dog". Dog and man happy as larks once again.....
As I've mentioned, D. Daphne Dog has been very much a blessing throughout the last months. Always happy and wagging her tail, always active and inquisative about things; it's just nice to have her around. And for a dog that was not really house trained when she was given her reprieve to start living inside....she's done remarkably well. Only one, maybe two "pee pee" incidents and one "poop".
She's easily trainable and has learned to let me know when she needs to go out to "potty" [a generic term for either of the two functions mentioned above]. She whines. Of course she whines for a lot of other reasons too, so I have had to learn the "potty" whine. I learned it after the second and final "pee pee" episode I think.
Anyway you get the drift, Daphne has come a long way baby. But she does have her moments when, I believe, the trauma of her past life causes her to act out. Last night she acted out on our luxurious quilted bedspread, ripping a hole smack dab in the middle and pulling the stuffing out. I say luxurious, perhaps it was more like a pretty old, somewhat ratty bedspread. But it is now where Daphne sleeps, me too, so to her I'm sure it seemed luxurious. Why she did this is open for discussion but I think that the pain and trauma of being forced to stay outdoors during her childhood years sometimes is too much for her to bear. Also the bedspread was on the floor as I washed the sheets, so it presented a target of opportunity too great not to unleash her inner aggressions on.
But no mind, a bedspread is just stuff, a dog is a dog, dogs are more important than stuff. But she had to be reprimanded and so I used the technique used by some women I've known....a good dose of sour looks and quilt. Guilt, at least on me, works better than any other form of punishment. Even when I've done nothing wrong, some women have that certain knack of imparting the suggestion of guilt that makes me wonder. Though I may be perfectly innocent "now", they presume that I may have done this wrong in the past or perhaps might do it in the future, so why not be made to feel guilty about it "now".
So this was Daphne's punishment. One she's seen before. She's a master of deflection however. I usually start out with {low tone} "Daphne, did you do this"? At which time she starts glancing around looking for any other dogs I might be talking to. Since the Big Gold Dog is no longer here to deflect suspicion onto, Daphne now gets nowhere with this technique. Next I bring her over and have her sit down right in front of the evidence and, knowing that she's almost human I speak to her like a child, "Daphne, why oh why did you do this to our "good" bedspread". I can also read her mind. She's thinking, "Daphne, why oh why did you get caught".
After five or so minutes of constant low tone guilt imparting to Daphne, she'd had enough and decided to just lie down sad eyed and take it. I knew this was sufficient so I asked, "Daphne, do you have to go potty". At which time she bounded to the back door, did her business and when she came in I gave her a treat and said, "Good Dog". Dog and man happy as larks once again.....
